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In Romans 5:12, Paul writes that “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Almost everybody thinks that Paul is referring to the event in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

But is this what Paul has in mind?

It doesn’t seem so …

Let us consider the contexts of Genesis 3 and Romans 5 to see what Paul is thinking. And while we are doing that, we will also seek to define the word “death” as it is used in Scripture.

Death in Genesis 3 (in the context of Genesis 2-7)

Questions about death have plagued humanity since the very beginning. Where did death come from? How can we escape death? What is death? What happens after death? Is there a way to return from death?

The Bible answers many of these questions, and the foundation for these answers is laid in Genesis 2–7. If we fail to understand these opening chapters, this failure has ramifications for how we understand the rest of the Bible as well.

For example, vast segments of Christianity believe that death is a curse from God which came as a result of human sinful rebellion in the Garden of Eden. Many believe that because Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God cursed them with death, and all humanity as well.

This way of thinking then gets carried over into how we understand other texts related to the gospel, and it also colors our view of God and death.

But a careful study of what Genesis 2–7 teaches about death and dying leads us in a very different direction.

Now, it is true that physical death came upon humans as a result of eating the forbidden fruit. But it is not true that God sent death upon humans or cursed humans with death. Many people do not realize this, but death was built in to creation, as part of creation. If that’s a challenging idea for you, go and listen to Episode 9 of the One Verse Podcast, where I teach about death and creation from Genesis 1:11-12.

So death was inherent within God’s good creation, but this does not mean that God wanted humans to die. This is why God gave humans the Tree of Life. Eating from this tree would keep death from coming upon humans.

When Adam and Eve ate fruit from the forbidden tree, death did come upon humans, but not because God cursed humans with death. Instead, death came upon humans because humans could not longer eat from the Tree of Life.

But is this not a curse after all? Is it not God’s “fault” that humans die? No. While, it is true that God is the one responsible for keeping humans from eating from the tree of life, this is not a curse; it is a blessing.

Death is a Blessing

Despite the way most people feel about it, death is actually a blessing from God. The real curse would be to live forever in a sinful body.

When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they permanently damaged their relationship with each other, with creation, with God, and even within themselves (This is what is seen and described in Genesis 3:7-21).

The only way for God to repair these connections is by allowing our bodies to die so that He could give us new, glorious bodies that accomplished everything He planned and intended for us. In other words, once our flesh was damaged, the only way to repair it is through death.

Death, therefore, is not a curse, but a cure. Genesis 5 shows that everyone experienced this kind of death as time and time again we are met with the phrase, “… and he died” (Genesis 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31).

Yet this type of death is not the only type of death mentioned in Genesis 1–7, nor is it the type of death that Scripture as a whole is most concerned with. And this is not the type of death Paul has in mind in Romans 5:12-21.

Natural death is natural, and while God did not want or intend for us to die natural deaths, it is not primarily this type of death that Jesus came to rescue and deliver us from.

The first real death in the Bible is encountered in Genesis 4, and it is this death that is most concerning to God, and which Scripture everywhere warns us against.

The Introduction of Sin and Death (Genesis 4:4, 8)

The first death in the Bible is when Cain murders his brother Abel as a result of jealous rivalry (Genesis 4:8). Many Christians believe that the first death in the Bible occurs when God sacrificed a sheep in Genesis 3:21 or when Abel made a similar sacrifice in Genesis 4:4.

But a careful study of these texts reveals that no animal blood was shed. There is no animal sacrifice in Genesis 3:21 or Genesis 4:4. I have podcast episodes on these verses as well. No sacrifice in Genesis 3:21 and no sacrifice in Genesis 4:4-5.

So the first death of any kind in the Bible is when Cain murders his brother in Genesis 4:8.

The significance of this cannot be overstated. Since the first death is between brothers, it reveals that all violence between humans is violence between family members. When we stop to think about it, all of us are related, which means that any violence against anyone else is violence against a member of our own family.

But beyond this, the source of the violent murder is Cain’s desire to have what Abel has, and the rivalry he engages in to obtain it (cf. Genesis 4:5-7). Furthermore, Cain then goes off to found a city (Genesis 4:17), which shows that murder and violence is at the foundation of all human civilization.

But it is not just the murder of one against another that concerns God. God is concerned with the human tendency to escalate violence through retaliation and revenge. This is why God puts a mark on Cain (Genesis 4:15).

God knows that the death of one tends to lead quickly to the death of many, and He wants to stop the process from beginning with Cain.

This truth is further seen when Lamech kills a young man for hurting him (Genesis 4:23). Lamech goes on to say that if Cain would be avenged sevenfold, then he should be avenged seventy sevenfold (Gen 4:26).

As all humans who engage in violence against others, Lamech feels completely justified in his own actions, and believes that any retaliation against him would be completely unjustified. But note how the sevenfold retaliation has already exponentially increased to seventy sevenfold.

In Genesis 6 we see that this seventy sevenfold vengeance has overtaken the whole earth so that now, everyone is only evil all the time and violence has covered the whole earth (Genesis 6:5, 11). The one thing that God did not want to happen has happened. In Genesis 6 all humans are engaged in violence against all other humans. The earth is suffering from an all-consuming contagion of violence.

So the overall truth about death in Genesis 2–7 is that there are two main types of death.

One of the physical death which comes upon all people as a result of being blocked from the tree of life. This death is not a curse, but a blessing, as it is the necessary doorway to the resurrection and the glorified bodies that we have for eternity.

The second form of death, however, is the main concern of God, not only in Genesis 2–7, but also in the rest of Scripture. This is the death that comes as a result of violence, and which is closely associated with sin.

The death that plagues humanity and which Jesus can to rescue and deliver us from is not the primarily the death of humans dying from old age, but the death of humans killing other humans.

Sin has consequences both to ourselves and others. Yes, we die physically from old age because we have been separated from the tree of life, but we also die (as do others) as a result of the consequences of sinful violence.

This brings us then to what Paul is teaching in Romans 5.

Death Through Adam in Romans 5:12-21

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. … Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come (Rom 5:12, 14).

Paul argues in Romans 5:12-21 that sin and death are not linked to the law. Both existed prior to the Mosaic Law (Romans 5:13-14), and the law serves to reveal and exacerbate the human problem of sin (Romans 5:20).

Paul goes on to contrast this with the righteousness that is in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:16-18). Therefore, as with many other words in this dictionary, the concept of death in Romans in closely connected with other key words that must also be understood in order to grasp Paul’s overall argument.

For the purposes of this entry, it is only necessary to point out that Paul writes how death came as a result of sin, and sin entered the world through one man, Adam (Romans 5:12). The order of events is that Adam introduced sin into the world, and sin brought death.

Many who read Romans 5:12 believe that the sin Paul is referring to is the act of eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which resulted in Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden so that they later died of old age.

But when we go back and carefully examine the order of events the terminology used in Genesis 3–4 as we have done above, we see a different truth emerge.

Yes, through Adam’s disobedience, sin was introduced into the world. But in Genesis, sin is not mentioned until Genesis 4:7, where it is connected with Cain’s desire to engage in rivalry and revenge against Abel.

Adam and Eve had previously engaged in some of this rivalry when they started blaming each other, blaming God, and blaming the serpent for why they ate the fruit (Genesis 3:11-13), but the overall picture of what sin is and how it leads to death is not described until Genesis 4 where sin is first mentioned and the first death occurs.

Yes, Adam introduced both sin and death to the world in Genesis 3, but both are not fully revealed until Genesis 4.

So when Paul writes in Romans 5:12-21 that sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, we should not be thinking about Genesis 3, but about Genesis 4.

The death that is most concerning to Paul is the death that comes as a result of violence.

When Paul goes on in Romans 5:12-21 to write about how death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned, we should be thinking about Genesis 5–7, where while some people died from old age, most of the people in these chapters died as a result of violence.

None of this is how God intended or desired for humans to interact with each other. When God created humanity, He planned for us to live and work together in peace and harmony, as partners in the task of multiplying on the face of the earth, taking care of the plants and animals, and expanding the borders of the Garden to cover the whole earth (cf. Genesis 1:26-28).

This was the righteous life that God wanted for us. But instead, we chose the sin of blame, accusation, finger-pointing, rivalry, and scapegoating, which leads to death, the violent death of brother murdering brother. But Jesus came to lead us back into the righteous life that God originally desired. Paul goes on to explain how this works in Romans 6-8.

The transition from death unto life in the book of Romans is a transition from the sins of rivalry, scapegoating, and violence based on the law (Romans 1–3), to the reception of eternal life and the principles of the righteous life as revealed in Jesus (Romans 4–5).

These truths then lead us into freedom from sin and the law (Romans 6–7), so that we no longer have to live in condemnation from God or from one another (Romans 8). Paul concretely applies all these truths in Romans 9–15.

As can be seen, a proper understanding of what the Bible teaches about death helps make sense of Paul’s argument in Romans, and especially what he is teaching in Romans 5:12. While receiving eternal life is part of Paul’s message in Romans, it is only a small part.

In Romans 5:12-21, Paul is more concerned with how we live our lives in Jesus Christ free from slavery to sin and the power of death.

So what does the Gospel teach about Death?

Yes, it is true … the gospel teaches that while humans die from sickness and old age, these things will be done away with in the future.

But this truth about death is not the primary teaching in the Gospel about death. The Bible is not just concerned about future death, but present death.

The gospel contains truths about death for this life here and now, and how to avoid it. The Bible says that the big problem of death is not that we will eventually die from old age or disease, but that we engage in the practices of death every day when we accuse, slander, and blame our fellow human beings.

We engage in the practices of death when we approve of scapegoating, condemning, and killing other human beings. The first death in the Bible is when Cain murdered his brother Abel, and when we call for the death of other human beings today, we are following in the way of Cain.

Jesus came and died to reveal this truth to us, and to call us to stop it. Rather than seek revenge and retaliation, we are to love and forgive. This is the way of Jesus and this is the call of the gospel.

The gospel reveals how we participate in the killing of our brothers and sisters, and calls us to abandon these practices and follow Jesus in the way of love. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 5 as well.

The main concern of Scripture regarding death is the death that comes from scapegoating violence. This is the foundational sin of the world, and is the type of death Jesus subjected Himself to so that He might reveal to us how we humans are enslaved to death and show us a different way to live.

We gain deliverance from this type of death by choosing to follow Jesus in the way of love and forgiveness, rather than in the worldly way of rivalry, accusation, and blame.

Once we have seen what death is and how we have deliverance from all forms of death in Jesus Christ, it is then that we lose our fear of death. It is then that we can say with Paul:

Death is swallowed up in victory.
O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?

Understanding the Gospel requires us to properly understand the key words and terms of the Gospel. Take my course, "The Gospel Dictionary" to learn about the 52 key words of the Gospel, and hundreds of Bible passages that use these words.

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What is the Crown of Life?

By Jeremy Myers

39 Comments

Have you ever wondered about the crown of life? A reader recently sent in the following question about what the crown of life is, though it might also be important to understand how we gain the crown of life. But let us begin with her question. Here is what she wrote:

I just finished reading your article on Yeshua drinking the bitter cup. I am just amazed at this view. I was searching for what it meant because a few years back I was told to drink a bitter cup. All I know is I have never felt lost until that time. To drink the dregs of it is a horrible thing, and all I had was a taste. But Jesus drank the dregs for us! I am still stunned at what you have shown. Your article makes me appreciate even more what He has done for us. It makes perfect sense to me.

I would like to ask you if you have written anything on the crown of life? After all this incident, I was told on April 19 that I had made it through my tribulation and received the crown of life. Can you help explain what this means?

First, thank you for the encouragement about the article where Jesus prayed to “Let this cup pass.” I must give credit to one of my seminary professors for that view.

From your question, it sounds like maybe you are attending a church or Bible study that gives prophetic “Words of knowledge” to its members. Is that true?

Be careful about what people tell you through these “words of knowledge.” My experience is that usually the messages they give are designed to control you and instill fear in you, rather than help or encourage. In the case of the two things you were told, it looks like someone quoted some poorly-misunderstood Bible passages at you, and then misapplied them to your life so that you lived in fear.

Remember, God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). If a message comes “by the Spirit” and results in you feeling lost and fearing for your life, it is not likely a message that originated with God.

But let us move on to your question about the crown of life.

The Crown of Life

So what about the Crown of Life? What is the crown of life and how can we gain it?

There are five crowns mentioned in Scripture. They are the Everlasting Crown (1 Cor 9:25), the Crown for the One who Wins Souls (Php 4:1; 1 Thess 2:19), the Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim 4:8), the Crown of Glory (1 Pet 5:4), and the Crown of Life (Jas 1:12; Rev 2:10).

Part of the difficulty with these crowns is that most cultures today do not use crowns, and those that do reserve the crowns for royalty. But the word used for “crown” is stephanos, which can also refer to a “reward” or “laurel wreath.” In the original Greek Olympics, the winner of the sporting contests was awarded the stephanos, a laurel crown.

So each of the crowns mentioned above represents a reward for some particular special act of service or perseverance within the Kingdom of God. By all appearances, the crowns will be some sort of actual reward handed out to believers when Jesus returns again in the future. This will be at the Bema — the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Therefore, none of the crowns are equivalent to eternal life itself. That is, while eternal life is the absolutely free gift of God to anyone who simply believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47), the various crowns are rewards that are given to Christians who complete certain tasks and practice certain behaviors.

Each of the five crowns deserves its own study, but let me just focus on the Crown of Life. (There is a short study of the other crowns in my Gospel Dictionary Online Course, in the lesson on “Crown.”)

The Crown of Life is NOT Eternal Life

James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10 indicate that the Crown of Life is for those who persevere in faith through temptation, tribulation, and persecution.

Some people wrongly teach, however, that if you fail to persevere in faith through temptation, tribulation, or persecution, that you prove you do not have life, or that God will take away your life. This is not true.

Eternal life is a free gift to everyone and anyone who believes in Jesus for it. You do not have to work your way to eternal life. Eternal life cannot be earned or kept by good works.

The Crown of Life, however, is a reward for special acts of service and perseverance under trial.

The Crown of Life is special reward for a special act of service and dedication to the King.

So if you are experiencing severe temptation, trials, or persecution, be encouraged and persevere through them.

Just as a runner perseveres through the difficulties of the race so that he reaches the finish line and receives the reward, so also Jesus wants to put the Crown of Life upon your head when you reach the finish line after persevering through pain, trials, and persecution.

It will probably not be an actual crown or ring of leaves, but will be some sort of special blessing, honor, privilege, or recognition in the future, eternal reign of Jesus.

By offering this Crown, Jesus encourages us to stay strong, keep the course, and remain faithful.

Let us look in more detail at the two texts which mention the Crown of Life.

The Crown of Life in James 1:12

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).

The crown of life that James mentions here is often confused with eternal life.

But as with every other crown, we know that the crown of life cannot be the same thing as eternal life because eternal life is the free gift of God to everyone who believes in Jesus for it, but the crown of life, as described here by James, is given to those who endure temptation.

In other words, Jesus gives the crown of life to those who persevere in faith through temptation, tribulation, and persecution.

Therefore, the crown of life is a reward for a life well-lived. It is an honor that Jesus bestows upon those who endure the trials and temptations of this life.

Some people wrongly teach that those who fail to persevere in the midst of temptation prove that they not actually Christians or that as a result of their failure, God takes away their eternal life. But this is not what James is teaching.

Eternal life is a free gift to everyone and anyone who believes in Jesus for it. The crown of life, however, is a reward for special acts of service and perseverance under trial.

This is actually a great encouragement for those who face trials and temptations. It is much easier to endure in the midst of trials when we know that we are safe and secure in the arms of God, and that even if we fail to stand up in the temptation, He will not abandon or forsake us, but will always be there to love, comfort, protect, and restore us.

This sense of safety gives us strength to stand in the midst of temptation. It allows us to run the race with perseverance, rather than giving up out of fear and frustration.

This crown is an encouragement to stay strong, keep the course, and remain faithful. As with the other crowns, it is likely not a literal crown, but is symbolic of praise, honor, and glory that Jesus bestows upon those who faithfully stand with Him in the midst of trial and temptation.

The Crown of Life in Revelation 2:10

Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

The crown mentioned in Revelation 2:10 is also the crown of life mentioned in James 1:12. In both cases, the crown of life is a special honor, reward, or recognition given by Jesus to those who stand up against the temptation and trials of the devil.

The crown of life is not eternal life, but is a way that Jesus recognizes and honors those people who faithfully serve Him and remain steadfast in the storms of life (cf. Revelation 3:11).

Here in Revelation 2:10, Jesus warns the Christians in Smyrna that the devil is coming to accuse and test them. Some of them will be thrown into prison, and they may even lose their lives. But Jesus says that if they remain faithful, He will bless and honor them with the crown of life when they stand before Him in the resurrection. They will be shown special honor in the life to come.

One further piece of evidence that the crown of life is not the same as eternal life is that all seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3 contain promises of rewards and special blessings for those Christians who persevere and overcome.

Just as eating from the tree of life (Rev 2:7), getting a new name (Rev 2:17), receiving power to rule the nations (Rev 2:26), being recognized before God in heaven (Rev 3:5), and being made a pillar in the temple of God (Rev 3:12) are not the same thing as receiving eternal life, so also, the crown of life is not the same thing as eternal life.

These are all special ways that Jesus rewards and recognizes those who faithfully serve and honor Him.

So What is the Crown of Life?

The crown of life is not equivalent to eternal life. Eternal life is the free gift of God to all who believe in Jesus for it. The crown of life (like all the crowns mentioned in Scripture) is a form of honor and recognition that Jesus bestows upon those who faithfully serve and honor Him.

It is helpful to think of these crowns as a medal for winning a race, or as some form of public recognition where we receive praise for a job well done. This recognition and reward will be received at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is especially true of the crown of life.

So as you live your life, be eager for the Lord’s coming, faithfully love and serve one another, teach and train each other in the truths of the gospel, and stand strong in the face of trial and temptation. If you do these things, you will receive crowns from Jesus so that you may cast them at His feet in eternity.

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Christians Should Go to Hell

By Jeremy Myers

16 Comments

No, I am not condemning or cursing Christians to hell. Instead, I am inviting them to follow Jesus wherever He leads … even when it is straight to hell. In other words, I am saying that Jesus is leading you to go to hell.

Let me explain.

The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail Against It

In my book, (#AmazonAdLink) The Death and Resurrection of the Church, I point out that the very first time Jesus talked about the church, He said that He was going to build it and that that gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

When most Christians read this, they imagine the church as this impregnable fortress, with huge white granite walls, behind which all the people of God huddle together in safety as the forces of evil attack from outside.

When most Christians read Matthew 16:18, they think Jesus is saying that the church He is building will be a place for Christians to safely wait out the onslaught of the invading hordes of hell.

But this is exactly the opposite of what Jesus says. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Do you see? Jesus is saying that the church He is building will go to hell and storm the gates of hell.

In other words, who has the gates and walls which keep out the invading army? Not the church, but hell.

And therefore, who is the invading army? Not hell, but the church.

When Jesus describes the church He is building, it is not the church which has the walls and gates, but hell. And it is not the devil and his forces that are attacking the gates of the church, but the church which is attacking the gates of hell. It is the church which will go to hell to rescue those who are there.

The gates of hell are under siege by Jesus and His church.

It is not the church that is attempting to hide behind gleaming walls as against an invading army. No, it is Satan and his minions who are huddled behind their blackened walls, hoping that the gates will hold.

Jesus says they will not. Jesus says the gates of hell will not prevail. They will not stand. The gates of hell will fall to the invading church.

Of course, this presupposes that the church is on the offensive. That the church is invading hell. That the church has followed Jesus to hell. That the church will go to hell with Jesus.

It’s an exciting prospect!

But there is something else in Jesus’ statement as well.

Where is Hell? It is Here and Now

If the church is here in this world, and if Jesus is leading the church to attack the gates of hell now… then this means that hell is here and now as well.

It has been said that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. If that’s true, the second greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the church that hell existed only in the afterlife, and only for unbelievers.

The truth, as indicated by Jesus Himself in Matthew 16, is that hell is here and now. Hell is a kingdom on this earth, and Jesus launched His attack on the gates of hell by inaugurating the kingdom of God on earth. We are now in the middle of a struggle between two kingdoms, and Jesus has shown us that the gates of hell will crumble and fall so that His rule and reign will cover the earth, until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord (Rom 14:11; Php 2:10).

If the church is going to go to hell with Jesus, then this means that the gates of hell must exist here and now, on this earth, during our lives, so that we can go to hell and attack the gates.

In his excellent article, “Hell is a Kingdom,” Brad Jersak writes this:

“Hell is a kingdom, located wherever people are imprisoned and oppressed by the ‘the powers’ and death-dealers of ‘this present darkness’—whether it’s the military-industrial-complex, corporate or political beasts, or any personal affliction, addiction or obsession of choice. … Jesus is not calling the death-snares of this world hades metaphorically in anticipation of the actual subterranean post-mortem hades. Just the opposite: the afterlife mythology of hades is a metaphor for the actual human condition ‘here above.’ The rhetoric or hell is less about the eschatological future and more about educating us in the ‘two ways’ or ‘two kingdoms’ competing for our allegiance here on earth.” (Sinner Irenaeus, aka Brad Jersak, “Hell is a Kingdom: The Missing Motif Reconstructed,” 6).

The message of the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus must be read in light of the idea that hell as a present reality.

It is to the humans caught in the kingdom of hell that Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt 4:17) This is not a promise to claim as we wait to die so we can go to heaven and spend an eternal bliss with God. This is a war cry. It is the declaration of Jesus the thief, entering into the strongman’s house, to tie him up and steal his possessions. What possessions? This world and the human beings upon it (Matt 12:29).

So the Church Should Go to Hell

The terrible, tragic reality is that while the church gets so caught up in the debate about who goes to hell, and how long they will be there, and whether or not hell is a place of eternal suffering or temporary purification, we are ignoring the people living in hell on earth all around us.

The debate about hell keeps us from helping those who are suffering in the kingdom of hell here and now. Isn’t that sadly ironic? We strengthen and enable hell by discussing and debating hell.

So where do you see the gates of hell in the lives of your family members? Where do you see the influence and power of hell in your neighborhood? Where do you see hell in your town or city? How can you go to hell by rescuing and delivering them?

Where do you see people living in addiction, bondage, guilt, shame, and fear? Where are they abused, maligned, neglected, forgotten, overlooked, abandoned, and forsaken? Where are they sold? Where are they starving? Where are they seeking love?

Wherever you see such things, you see the gates of hell.

What is the plan of attack to charge these gates and tear them down? With Jesus at your side, these gates will not prevail against you.

There are two kingdoms at war in this world, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of hell. Jesus is calling you to participate in one by storming the gates of the other.

Will you answer the call of Jesus and go to hell with Him?

This post is part of the May Synchroblog, in which numerous bloggers around the world write about the same topic on the same day. Links to the other contributors are below. Go and read what they have to say about the topic of hell.

An Investigation into the Biblical Concept of Hell – Justin Steckbauer
To Hell and Back – Soulcare Ministries
The HELL You Say! – Nathan Jennings
Forbidden Fruit = Hell’s Flames – Michael Wilson
How long does hell last? – K.W. Leslie
The problem of those unable to Love, or the question of hell as a reality – Bram Cools
Hell No! – Mike Edwards
Five Misconceptions about Annihilationism – Wesley Rostoll
Knowing Who You Trust – Tim Nichols
Heretic (Belated) Fridays – Bradley Jersak – Her Gates Will Never Be Shut– Scott Sloan
Hell – A Place of Passionate Desire – Alan Stevens
Oh, Hell, NO! – Liz Dyer

Do I need to confess Jesus to be saved? (Romans 10:9-10)

By Jeremy Myers

20 Comments

There are several verses in the Bible which seem to teach that you need to make a public confession of Jesus in order to be saved. Many people interpret this to mean that if you do not let others know that you are a follower of Jesus, then you do not truly have eternal life and will therefore not spend eternity with God in heaven.

There are numerous passages from Scripture which seem to teach this idea of making a public confession about following Jesus, but none of them actually teach what many people think. This article will briefly consider several of these verses, with an emphasis on Romans 10:9-10.

The bottom line truth we will learn is that a public confession of Jesus is not required to receive (or prove that we have) eternal life. Not even Romans 10:9-10 teaches this idea.

To see this, it is important to first define the word “confess.”

The Meaning of the Word “Confess”

As discussed previously, the word “confess” simply means “to agree.” God teaches us many things in Scripture, and when we agree with what He has revealed, we are “confessing” or “agreeing” with the truth.

The word “confess” is defined in more detail in my online course, “The Gospel Dictionary.”

So when Scripture tells us to confess that Jesus is Lord, it is telling us to agree that Jesus is Lord.

Do you agree with what God has revealed in Scripture, that Jesus is Lord? That He is the Master, Ruler, Judge, and King of all things? If you do, then you confess that Jesus is Lord, and are invited by Scripture to live in light of this truth.

So is Confession Required for Eternal Life?

But is this confession of Jesus as Lord required to receive eternal life?

No, it is not. You do not need to confess that Jesus is Lord in order to receive eternal life.

The consistent truth of Scripture (and Jesus Himself) is that we receive eternal life simply and only by believing in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47). You do not receive eternal life by submitting your life to the Lordship of Jesus, confessing your sins, walking an isle, saying a prayer, asking Jesus into your heart, or any of the other popular messages some Christians teach today.

Jesus gives eternal life to those who believe in Him for it. Period. No action, effort, commitment, dedication, repentance, confession, or work is needed on your part.

Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus is very important for sanctification and becoming more like Jesus in this life, but we do not need to submit to Jesus on confess Jesus in order to receive eternal life.

But what about the verses that seem to teach that we must confess that Jesus is Lord in order to receive eternal life? Well, let’s look at few…

Matthew 10:32 (Luke 12:8)

Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is heaven (Matthew 10:32).

Nothing this this text refers to receiving eternal life. Instead, Jesus is teaching a discipleship truth. He is saying that if you want to figure out what your life is all about (Matt 10:39), what your purpose is, and how you can live a life of significance, then you must first align yourself with Jesus and be proud of your connection with the family of God.

You cannot follow Jesus wherever He leads in life if you don’t want to be associated with Him. When we are proud of our connection to Jesus, and let others know that we are part of God’s family, then Jesus will lead us where He wants us to go, and will also boast about us before God in heaven.

This might be a bit like how God boasted about Job to the angelic host in Job 1:8. Of course, in that context, God is boasting about Job to Satan, whereas here, it is Jesus boasting about us to God, but the idea is similar. God is proud of His children when they are proud of being part of His family.

Note that nothing is said about these people not actually being Christians or not being part of the family of God. Though Jesus does say in Matthew 10:33 that He will deny those who deny Him, this does not mean that they are denied eternal life and entrance into heaven.

All it means is that they will not receive recognition and praise from Jesus when He boasts about His faithful brethren to His Father. Instead, He might actually express some disappointment. But He will never take away their eternal life, for that would be tantamount to denying Himself, which He cannot do. A similar idea is expressed in 2 Timothy 2:12.

2 Timothy 2:12

If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He will also deny us (2 Timothy 2:12).

The word confess is not mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:12, but the word deny is, which is the opposite of confess.

The immediate context of 2 Timothy 2:12 mentions salvation (2 Timothy 2:10), and the following contexts refers to being approved and unapproved by Jesus (2 Timothy 2:15), all of which is connected to naming the name of Christ and turning from sin (2 Tim 2:19).

So Paul is not referring to gaining or losing eternal life, but to submitting our lives to Jesus as Lord and Master so that we can deliverance from the destructive power of sin in our lives and gain honor and recognition from Jesus when we stand before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Gaining eternal life and remaining within God’s family is solely by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. However, having a position of honor and prominence within the family, having God be proud of us and what we have done with Him in His Kingdom is quite another matter.

For God to be proud about us and to boast about us to others, we must be strong, endure hardship, suffer trouble, be diligent, shun idle arguments, depart from iniquity, flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2 Tim 2:1-26). If we fail to do such things, and deny Jesus rather than confess and proclaim our alignment with Him, then He will deny us the ability to rule and reign with Him in His Kingdom, even though we will still remain part of the family of God.

This is the exact same truth Paul teaches in Romans 10:9-10, which is the passage most often used to teach that confession of Jesus is required for eternal life.

Romans 10:9-10

… that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

Many use Romans 10:9-10 to teach that if a person is going to truly be a Christian, they are required to make a public confession of faith in front of other people.

How this occurs varies from teacher to teacher. Some say that it occurs at baptism, while others say that standing up in church to share a conversion story is what is needed.

Most argue, however, that the only thing required is that a Christian never publicly deny that Jesus is their Lord and Master. When asked to take a stand for Jesus in the public arena, we are required to not be ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16), and instead be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15).

According to many, the one who fails to take such a public stand for Jesus proves that he never really a Christian in the first place.

But is this really what Paul is teaching? Is Paul saying that we need to make a public confession that Jesus is Lord in order to receive eternal life? No, this is not what Paul is saying.

The reason this text is so widely misunderstood and misapplied is because few people understand that the words “saved” and “salvation” do not refer to receiving eternal life.

People see the words “saved” and “salvation” in these verses and think that Paul is writing about how to receive eternal life. But he is not. The words “saved” and “salvation” in the Bible never refer specifically to receiving eternal life by faith in Jesus.

Instead, the salvation word family refers to some sort of deliverance or rescue, and can include deliverance from premature death due to sickness or enemies, deliverance from running one’s relationships, or even to deliverance from shame at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

When Scripture teaches about being saved from sin, it is not referring to escaping hell and going to heaven when we die, but to the deliverance from the devastating and destructive consequences of sin in this life.

It is this last idea of “salvation” which Paul primarily has in mind when he writes about salvation in his letters, and especially in his letter to the Romans.

Paul not only wants his readers to receive eternal life through faith in Jesus (Romans 4-5), he also wants his readers to experience the life of God in their day-to-day lives right now (Romans 6-8).

Paul not only wants his readers to be justified (Romans 4-5), he also wants them to be sanctified (Romans 6-8).

He not only wants them to be declared righteous in the sight of God (Romans 4-5), but also to live righteously in the sight of men (Romans 6-8).

So when Paul writes about salvation, it is this day-to-day journey into discipleship and sanctification that Paul has in mind.

“Salvation” in Romans is NOT about gaining forgiveness of sins so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. It is about following Jesus in the path of discipleship so that we can avoid the destructive and devastating consequences of sin in this life.

We see this quite clearly right here in Romans 10:9-10.

The word Paul uses for righteousness in verse 10 is the same exact Greek word he uses elsewhere for justification (see Justification). And how is a person justified? According to Paul, a person is justified when they believe in Jesus (cf. Romans 4:4-5). This belief takes place in their heart, that is, in their inner being. It is not something that necessarily has any outward sign, activity, or manifestation.

When we believe in Jesus, He gives us eternal life (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47). We are justified, or declared righteous by God.

But being declared righteous by God is not the same thing as the daily experience of freedom from sin.

Deliverance from the penalty of sin is not the same thing as deliverance from the power of sin in our lives. All Christians know that even after they become a Christian, they continue to struggle with disobedience and rebellion against God. Paul knows this very well (cf. Romans 7), and so a constant theme in his letters is to teach Christians how to experience the freedom for which they have been set free (cf. Gal 5:1).

Though justification truths are central to Paul’s thinking and teaching, sanctification truths are more constant.

So here in Romans 10:9-10, one key to gaining deliverance from the addictive and destructive power of sin in our lives is by publicly confessing our allegiance to Jesus.

We are justified by faith alone, but one key to experiencing salvation, that is, deliverance from the power of sin in our lives, is by boldly proclaiming with our mouth that Jesus is our Lord and Master.

As long as we hide the fact that we are aligned with Jesus, it will be easier for sin to continue to have mastery over us. But when we let friends, family, and co-workers know that we follow Jesus and obey His instructions, it will be easier for us to stand up for what is right and do what He commands. In this way, we will begin to experience salvation; we will begin to find deliverance from the devastating and destructive consequences of sin in our lives.

So is public confession with the mouth important? Yes, of course!

Taking a public stand for Jesus is essential for finding freedom from the power of sin in our lives. But this public stance is not required to receive eternal life. God declares us righteous when we believe in Jesus.

We believe in Jesus for eternal life, and we confess Jesus with our mouth to experience deliverance from sin.

How will this public stance look? Well, it will be different from person to person and from place to place. Baptism might be part of it, as well as possibly sharing a testimony in the church. But taking a public stand for Jesus is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing way of life that requires daily commitment and discipline. Taking a public stand for Jesus is part of every conversation, interaction, and decision with friends, family, coworkers, and even in our personal life.

Paul’s message in Romans 10:9-10 is that while being justified by faith alone is wonderful, it is not enough to deliver us from the power of sin in our lives here and now.

The first step toward this salvation from sin is to publicly confess and agree that we belong to God, that Jesus is our Master, and that we will follow Him and do what He says.

Note that this way of understanding Romans 10:9-10 can be easily understood by reversing the “order of events” in Romans 10:14-15. In these verses, Paul writes this:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

The “calling on Him” is equivalent to confessing Jesus, so let us take these events in reverse order:

1. A person is sent
2. That person preaches to people
3. The people hear what is preached
4. They believe what is preached (and are therefore justified)
5. Those who believe call on the name of the Lord.

Do you see? A person cannot call on the name of the Lord until they have first believed. In other words, the “calling” or “confessing” that Paul has in mind is a discipleship activity. It is for believers who are already justified. This calling and confession helps “save” believers from the destructive power of sin in our lives.

One does not gain eternal life by calling on the name of the Lord or by making a public confession that Jesus is Lord. We receive eternal life by believing in Jesus for it.

But having believed, we can gain victory over sin in our life (salvation) by confessing Jesus, calling on His name, and taking a public stand for Him. If we fail to do this, it does not mean we don’t have eternal life; it just means we will not experience victory over sin in our life.

So Do You Need to Confess that Jesus is Lord?

Well, it depends … what are you trying to do?

If you want to gain eternal life from God, then no, you do not need to confess that Jesus is Lord. Simply believe that Jesus has given eternal life to you. That’s it. Eternal life is a free gift received by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

But if you want to break free from the besetting, addicting, and destructive power of sin in your life, then yes, confession that Jesus is Lord and submission to Him in your life will be necessary. Only when we commit to following Jesus and take a stand for Him will we gain “salvation” from the power of sin in our lives here and now.

Does this make sense? I hope so! Leave any comments or questions you might have in the comment section below.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

Do you need to confess your sins before God forgives you? (1 John 1:9)

By Jeremy Myers

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In 1 John 1:9, we are invited to confess our sins so that God will forgive us. The verse says this:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But does this mean that if we do not confess our sins to God, He will not forgive us? No, the truth is that God has already forgiven you for all your sins, past, present, and future.

So what did the Apostle John mean when he wrote 1 John 1:9? To understand this verse, we need to understand three things. We need to understand the meaning of the word “confess,” the meaning of the word “forgive” and the overall message and theme of 1 John.

Let us look at these three key ideas.

The Meaning of the Word “Confess”

The word confess comes from the Greek word homologeō, and it literally means “to say the same thing.” The word means more than just to admit, proclaim, or declare something. Instead, it has in view a conversation with God or others about what is true, and we agree with them about what they are saying.

The opposite of confession is denial (arneomai). When God makes a statement about some truth, we can either agree with God or disagree (John 1:20; 1 John 2:23). Therefore, the word “agree” might be the best translation of homologeō.

To confess is to align with what God is saying, or to agree with Him about something.

Obviously, there are lots of truths we can agree with God about. Almost every statement in Scripture requires us to either agree or disagree. Yet when we study the word confess in Scrip-ture, we discover that confession, or agreement with God, has nothing whatsoever to do with gaining or keeping our eternal life, but rather with aligning ourselves with God’s perspective on things.

Never forget that we gain the free gift of eternal life simply by believing in Jesus for it. No confession or agreement is necessary. No turning from sin. No submission to Jesus as Lord and Master. No public declaration about being part of the family of God.

All such things are good works that are important for the life of the Christian, but which are not requirements for receiving eternal life.

Yet after we believe in Jesus for eternal life, God begins to work with us as His children to mold us and conform us into who He created us to be. When we are born again into the family of God, we begin our life as one of His children.

But God does not stop with just giving us new life in Jesus. No, once we have life, He wants us to grow and mature and become productive members of His family. So through Scripture, the church, and the Holy Spirit, God begins to teach us things about Himself, about ourselves, and about how to follow Jesus. And when we see these truths, we can either agree with God or disagree.

If we agree with what God teaches us, then we align ourselves with what God has said, and we begin to make the necessary changes in our lives that come from this agreement.

But if we disagree, if we deny the truth of what God has said, then we continue to live in ignorance and self-deception, and we will not make progress in our lives as Christians. We will remain part of the family of God, but we will remain immature and fruitless.

So the word confess means to agree with about the things He teaches, especially regarding those things that help us live up to our identity as children of God.

This definition of “confess” will help us understand 1 John 1:9, but before we consider the verse, let us look at the word “forgive.”

The Meaning of the Word “Forgive”

I have gone over the meaning of the word “forgive” multiple times on this website, so I won’t go through it in depth again.

The main point to remember is that there are two kinds of forgiveness in the Bible. There is charizomai forgiveness, which is free and unconditional. God freely extends charizomai forgiveness to all people throughout all time for all sins, no matter what. Believers and unbelievers alike have charizomai forgiveness. It does not require confession or repentance. All sins–past, present, and future-are freely forgiven by God with this type of forgiveness.

The second type of forgiveness is aphesis forgiveness. It is always conditional, and is for our benefit; not God’s. Though God has freely forgiven us for all our sins, if we want to experience the release from the bondage of sin, then there are things we need to do … such as confess, repent, and purify our lives.

You can probably already guess which type of forgiveness is mentioned in 1 John 1:9. Yes, since confession is mentioned, then it makes sense that the second type of forgiveness, aphesis forgiveness, is in view.

See this article on forgiveness for more or you can also take the lesson on “Forgiveness” in my Gospel Dictionary Online Course.

And while this key helps our understanding of 1 John 1:9 the most, let us turn to the third key, which is the overall theme of 1 John.

The Overall Theme of 1 John

Some people think that the letter of 1 John is about how to know whether or not you have eternal life. Some people teach that 1 John contains “Tests of Life” and if you pass these tests, then you can know that you have life.

But this is not at all why John wrote this letter. Instead, as if evident from the opening verses, John wrote this letter because He had fellowship with Jesus, and wanted to share this fellowship with others.

“Fellowship” is just a biblical word for “friendship.” (This word also will be covered in the Gospel Dictionary Online Course).

You can have a relationship with somebody, but not fellowship. For example, if you had a fight with one of your parents several years back, you are still related to them and are still part of the family, but you might not call them on the phone or get together for holidays. You are related, but do not have fellowship. You are not abiding or remaining with them in an ongoing friendship.

So John is writing his letter to Christians, to people who are in a relationship with God and with each other, as members of the family of God, and is telling them how to have fellowship with God and with each other. John wants His readers to be friends with God and friends with one another.

This also helps us understand 1 John 1:9.

Confession in 1 John 1:9

So let us take the three keys we have learned and put them all together as we seek to understand 1 John 1:9. Once again, the verse says this:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you are in a relationship with someone, such as a spouse, a parent, or a child, and you want to maintain a friendship with them, then one of the things you will need to do is regularly own up to the things you have done wrong in that relationship.

Similarly, if someone wrongs or hurts you, this pain and betrayal causes a rift between the two of you, so that you probably don’t want to talk to them or hang out with them again. Oh yes, you are still related to them by the bonds of blood or marriage, but you might not want to spend much time in their presence.

But that rift, that pain, that sense of betrayal can be healed, right? And how can it be healed. By the other person owning up to what they did wrong, and by agreeing with you that what they said or did was hurtful to you. In other words, they need to confess their sin.

It is the same when you have wronged someone else. If you wronged somebody, you can’t just move on in the relationship acting as if nothing happened. The other person was hurt, and they need to know that you are sorry for what you did, and will work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

All of this is also true in our relationship with God. When we sin, God is saddened by our behavior. As a result, our fellowship with God is broken. Just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when we sin, we often go hide in the bushes because we do not feel like God wants to see us.

The first step in healing this brokenness is by confessing our sin and agreeing with God that what we did was wrong.

So while God unconditionally extends forgiveness (charizomai) to all people, and so we are all forgiven for all our sins, if we want to actually experience a release (aphesis) from our bondage to sin, the first step is to agree (confess) with God that we have sinned.

If we do this, we will gain release from our slavery to sin, and He will work to cleanse us and purify us from all our unrighteous practices, and in this way, our fellowship with God will develop and grow.

So do you want to be friends with God? One of things that will help is letting Him point out your sin to you, so that you can agree (confess) with Him where you have indeed done wrong. Then, once you agree, let Him further guide you into breaking free from this sin so that you can no longer be addicted and enslaved to it.

This is the message of 1 John 1:9. If you agree with God when He points out your sin to you, He is faithful and just and will help release you from this sin, and will help guide you into all the ways of righteousness. This way of living will help you grow in friendship with God and others.

Does this help you understand 1 John 1:9 and the role of confession? If you still have questions or comments, leave them in the comment are below!

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

“Christ” is not the last name of Jesus … It’s a title

By Jeremy Myers

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When someone talks about Christ, everybody knows they are talking about Jesus. Yet few people realize that the word “Christ” is not a name, but a title.

Defining Christ

The word Christ comes from the Greek word christos, and is not actually a translation of the word, but a transliteration. The Greek letters of christos have simply been changed into English letters so that we get the word Christ. The same is true of the Hebrew equivalent, Messiah (Heb., Mashiach; cf. John 1:41).

The words themselves mean “anointed one” and can refer to someone who has been specially chosen by God to fulfill a function or complete a specific task, such as a king (1 Sam 9:16; 2 Sam 2:4-7; 1 Kings 1:34-45; Isa 45:1), priest (Exod 28:41; 30:30), or prophet (Isa 61:1). While the anointing upon these individuals was initially performed with oil, it later came to be thought of primarily as a spiritual anointing by God.

However, it is important to note that the term Christ has nothing to do with being divine. That is, while it is a biblical and theological fact that Jesus was fully God, we do not get this idea from the fact that Jesus is the Christ.

Yes, Jesus Christ is God incarnate. Yet “Christ” does not mean “God.” Even though I can say “The sky is blue” and “The sky is up,” this does not mean that the word “blue” means “up.” It doesn’t.

So also, even though the Bible teaches that “Jesus is the Christ” and that “Jesus is God,” the two statements are not theologically equivalent. Both statements are true, but both statements are saying different truths about Jesus.

After all, if Christ, or Mashiach, meant “God,” then what would the Bible be saying about those other individuals in Scripture, such as David, Saul, or Cyrus, who also called Mashiach?

It is best therefore, to think of the titles Christ or Messiah, as referring to someone who has received a special anointing by God to perform a specific task or purpose. Such a definition is true of every anointed person, whether it is a king, a prophet, a priest, or Jesus Himself.

“Christ” means “Anointed One”

In the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the title of “anointed one” (Mashiach or Christos) is used almost solely in reference to Jesus Christ. Paul takes the term even further so that it often refers not just to Jesus, but also to all who are in Jesus as part of His church (cf. Gal 3:27; Eph 3:4).

Eventually, the term “Christ” became so closely associated with the followers of Jesus, that eventually we became known as “Christians.”

So what is the best translation for the term Christ? While “anointed one” might be the most accurate translation, it is a bit of a mouthful to say “Jesus the Anointed One” all the time.

So is there a shorter term that might be preferable? Since most of the examples of anointed people in Scripture refer to prophets, priests, and kings, it is best to understand the term Christ in similar ways when it refers to Jesus.

Jesus is the pre-eminent prophet (Acts 3:18-24), priest (Heb 4:14-16), and king (Rev 19:16). Jesus is authoritative in how He judges, what He says, and where He leads.

Due to the wide variety of Messianic descriptions in the Old Testament, the Hebrew people often wondered what the Messiah would be like when He came. Would He be a king? A priest? A judge? A prophet? A deliverer? Would He be some combination of these, like the Priestly-King Melchizedek (Heb 5:5-11)?

When Jesus finally did arrive and declare Himself as the Messiah, the answer to all such questions was “Yes!” To speak of Jesus as the Christ is to speak of Him as our King, Priest, Prophet, Judge, Lord, Master, and Savior.

To speak of Jesus as the Christ is not only has the governmental role of ruler and king in view, but also the spiritual roles of prophet and priest, the legal roles of judge and counselor, and the personal roles of friend and brother.

So as it turns out, maybe the term Christ, left untranslated from the Greek christos, is the best word after all, as long as we recognize the rich significance and meaning of this term.

If you take all the roles from all the anointed leaders through all of biblical history, and combine them all together into one person, He looks just like Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the anointed King-Priest-Prophet-Judge-Lord-Master-Ruler-Savior.

As such, Jesus Christ rules and reigns not just over eternity, but also over every aspect of our lives here on earth as well.

“Christ” and the Gospel

This understanding of Christ is critical for a proper understanding of the biblical gospel. There are some people in Christianity who think that the gospel is only about how to go to heaven when you die.

The truth, however, is that while the gospel does tell us how to have eternal life so that we can go to heaven when we die (I call this “The Target Truth” in The Gospel According to Scripture), this truth is relatively small compared to the large number and wide variety of gospel truths contained within the Scriptures.

The gospel message of Jesus Christ is not primarily about how to go to heaven when we die, but is instead about how to follow Jesus on this earth while we live.

The gospel is more about this life than about the next. And Jesus as “the Christ” shows and instructs us how to live this life.

When we see that Jesus as the Christ claims authority and preeminence over every aspect of our lives, this helps us learn to follow Him and seek His guidance as we go about our days and interact with others. Serving Jesus as our Lord and Master reminds us that we do not serve human kings or presidents, but only King Jesus. Our affiliation is not to a political party, but to the Kingdom of God (Acts 17:2-7).

So when we read about Jesus Christ in the Bible, or when we read about how Christians are in Christ, it is important to not over-spiritualize word Christ, but instead to recognize that a statement is being bad about the Lordship and Mastery of Jesus over all things.

Yes, the term Christ itself means “anointed one” but Jesus was anointed to rule and reign over all things. The term Christ reminds us that as Christians, we follow Jesus as our Lord, Master, Ruler, and King.

In this way, the term Christ is central to the gospel because without Jesus as the Christ, there is no gospel. The good news message about Jesus is often described by Paul as “the gospel of Christ” (cf. Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 9:12; Gal 1:7).

If we want to understand the gospel, we must understand what it means for Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the Kingly and Priestly Ruler of all.

There are over 500 references in the New Testament which mention the term Christ. We cannot look at all of them, so let us consider one key text which reveals what it means for Jesus to be the Christ.

John 20:31 – Jesus is the Christ

… but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31).

I stated above that the word Christ is not directly equivalent to being divine. That is, even though Jesus is God, and even though Jesus is the Christ, the two statements are not equivalent.

Though the title Christ carries rich theological symbolism and significance, one idea it does not carry is that of divinity.

Nevertheless, there are verses that seem to teach this connection. John 20:31 is one such verse. Some people use John 20:31 as evidence that divinity is included within the concept of Christ, for this text defines the word Christ with the phrase “the son of God.” A closer inspection of this passage reveals what John is really saying.

John 20:30-31 contains the purpose statement for the Gospel of John. He says that he wrote his Gospel account so that those who read it might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing they might have life in His name. This does indeed fit with what John writes in his Gospel.

Many refer to the fourth Gospel as “The Gospel of Belief” for it explains over and over that God gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus for it (cf. John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47).

Since Matthew, Mark, and Luke are written more for Christians to help us learn how to follow Jesus in the path of discipleship, the purpose of John’s Gospel makes it the best one for unbelievers to read. John specifically wrote his Gospel account so that unbelievers might believe in Jesus.

However, John did not write this Gospel account only for unbelievers. While he emphasizes over and over how a person can believe in Jesus for eternal life, John also knows that God wants much more for us than to just believe in Jesus.

Though it is critically important for someone to believe in Jesus for eternal life, this is only the beginning of all that God has for us in Jesus Christ.

God not only wants us to have life; He wants us to have it in abundance (John 10:10; see Abundant Life).

The Gospel of John is not just about how to receive eternal life, but is also about how to fully experience this life in Jesus.

So although John is the best Gospel for nonbelievers to read, there is lots of discipleship truth in this Gospel for believers as well.

John wants Christians to have all of the life that Jesus has for us, not just eternal life, but also the full experience of eternal life in Jesus Christ. And this comes, not just by believing in Jesus for eternal life—which is emphasized all over in the Gospel of John—but also by believing that Jesus is the Christ, that is, that He is King, Ruler, Master, Lord, and Savior.

Does saying that “Jesus is the Son of God” mean “Jesus is God”?

But what about that phrase “Son of God”? Does not this mean that Jesus is God?

Well, like “Christ,” the term “Son of God” is also a title. The way John uses this title in the verse shows that the two terms mean the same thing. John explains the word “Christ” with the term “Son of God.”

Since many people think that the title “Son of God” means “God,” they then conclude from this text that the term “Christ” also means “God.” But it does not.

During the Roman Empire, especially beginning with Caesar Augustus and following, the Caesars often referred to themselves as sons of God. By this, they were not claiming to be God incarnate, nor were they claiming (in most cases anyway) that they were the biological offspring of a Roman deity and a human woman.

By taking the title “the son of God,” the Caesars were saying that while they had been born as a human being to human parents, they had now become the adopted child of the gods. This status as adopted sons of God conferred upon them all the power and privilege that came with being part of the divine family, which meant that the Caesars had the divine right to rule over the Roman Empire.

So the title “son of God” is not primarily about being God or becoming a God, but is instead about ruling with the authority of God. Like the title “Christ,” it is about being King, Lord, Ruler, and Master over all things.

When a Caesar declared himself to be a son of God, he was not saying he was God, but was instead claiming that he had the right to rule and govern the Roman Empire.

This also is what it means to refer to Jesus as the Son of God, except that Jesus does not only rule over the Roman Empire, but over every kingdom, empire, and country on earth.

So here at the end of his Gospel account, John explains that he wrote his Gospel so that those who read it might believe that Jesus has the right to rule over all areas of life.

Not just over every corner of ever countries, however, but also over every act and thought of all people. John wants people to believe in Jesus not just for eternal life, but also for every other aspect of life as well.

Those who believe this will have the full experience of life that God wants for us. This is what it means to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (cf. 1 John 4:2-3, 15).

To learn more about the title “Christ,” and the meaning of other texts that use this term, take the Lesson on Christ in my Gospel Dictionary online course.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

Can I be blotted out of the Book of Life? (Revelation 3:5)

By Jeremy Myers

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Have you ever wondered if you can be blotted out of the book of life? Many people have this fear.

The reason that some people wonder if they can be blotted out of the book of life is because there are a few verses in the Bible which seem to indicate that this is a distinct possibility.

However, when you understand what the Book of Life actually is, you will also come to understand what these tricky Bible passages mean.

This article is a summary of what people in my discipleship group learn when they take my online course, The Gospel Dictionary. The lesson on the book of life defines the term and looks at several key Bible passages which teach about it.

This post defines the term and looks at just one passage: Revelation 3:5. Let us begin with defining the term “book of life.”

What is the Book of Life?

The Book of Life is a translation from the Greek phrase tō biblō tēs zōēs. The phrase “the Book of Life” or “the Book of the Living” are fine translations for this phrase.

What matters more than the translation, however, is the nature of this book. What is this book? Why was it written? What does it mean to have your name written in the book? Can your name be removed from the book? If so, how does this happen and what does it mean?

All these questions must be answered as we seek to understand the Book of Life in Scripture.

Three Ways the Book of Life is mentioned in the Bible

There are three main ways the Book of Life is mentioned in the Bible. There is the Book of the Living (Ps 69:28), the Book of Life (Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; 20:12, 15), and the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev 13:8; 21:27).

Generally speaking, it appears that the first two phrases refer to a book which contains the names of every person who has physical life upon the earth.

The third phrase, the Lamb’s Book of Life, refers to a book which contains the names of every person who has eternal life in Jesus Christ.

There are numerous questions about the Book of Life. For example, some wonder whether or not these books actually exist, or if they symbolize some sort of divine mental list about who has life and who does not. And then there is the debate about how many books there are. Is it one, two, or three books? But such a debate hardly matters.

Whether Scripture is talking about keeping your name in the one Book of Life or having it transferred from the Book of Life to the Lamb’s Book of Life, the point remains the same: Whoever has their name written in the Book of Life (whether it is one book or two) is still alive. More importantly, there is a way to keep your name written in the Book of Life, even after you die.

One common view (which I held for many years) is that there are two books, the Book of Life, which contains the list of everyone who is alive, and the Lamb’s Book of Life, which contains the list of everyone who has eternal life in Jesus.

The alternative view, which is the view I now hold, is that there is only one Book of Life. When people die, their names are removed from the Book of Life. However, those who have everlasting life in Jesus Christ can never have their names removed from this book.

When a person believes in Jesus, their name, which had been written in “erasable” pencil, is now copied over with the permanent ink of the Blood the Lamb. Once this happens, it can never be removed or erased.

Therefore, eventually, at the end of human history, the Book of Life will contain only the names of people who have eternal life in Jesus. At this point, the Book of Life becomes known as the Lamb’s Book of Life, for it contains the list of everyone who has life in Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Whichever approach you choose, it is important to note that while Scripture does teach about getting blotted out of the Book of Life, this does not ever refer to losing eternal life. While a person might get their “penciled” name erased from the Book of Life when they die, once a person’s name is written in permanent ink, it cannot ever be blotted out.

However, lots of people struggle with various passages in the Bible which seem to indicate that a person can lose their eternal life by being blotted out of the book of life. Revelation 3:5 is one such text.

Being blotted out of the book of Life in Revelation 3:5

Revelation 3:5 says this:

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Revelation 3:5 has caused a lot of angst among Christians over the years, for it seems to imply that Jesus might, in fact, blot their names out of the Book of Life.

This verse appears in the Letter to the church in Sardis, and Jesus says that if they overcome, they will be clothed in white garments and will not be blotted out of the Book of Life.

To be an overcomer, one must not just live their life as a Christian, but must faithfully love, serve, and honor Jesus throughout their Christian life (Overcomer is another term I discuss in the Gospel Dictionary online course).

Some take from this, therefore, that those who fail to faithfully love, serve, and honor Jesus throughout their life will in the end have their name blotted out of the Book of Life, thus losing their eternal life.

Due to such teaching about this verse, many Christians live in fear of losing their eternal life if they do not follow and obey Jesus faithfully.

But this is not what Revelation 3:5 is teaching.

Citizenship Rosters in Sardis

The first thing to recognize is that numerous towns in John’s had citizenship rosters which contained the names of citizens. When a person died, they were removed from the roster.

But if a person brought great shame upon the town through committing various crimes, this also might lead to being removed from the roster. There are records of this happening to various citizens in Sardis.

Notice that Jesus says that He will never remove the name of an overcome from the roster. Quite the contrary, Jesus promises to praise their name in the heavenly courts, before God and the angels. This is a great honor that Jesus promises to those who faithfully serve and obey Him.

Jesus says there are a few names in Sardis who are on track for receiving this great honor (Rev 3:4). But what about those who fail to overcome? What about those who have defiled their garments and who have brought shame upon Jesus and His church?

The answer is that Jesus says nothing about them. Just because Jesus says He will greatly honor those who overcome, this does not mean that He will shame or dishonor those who do not.

He says he will come like a thief in the night (Rev 3:3), but this does not mean that He will come to kill them or take away their eternal life. Jesus says that unfaithful servants will not be honored the same way that faithful servants will be, but He is not saying that unfaithful servants will be cast out, killed, or have eternal life removed from them.

Litotes in Revelation 3:5

Support for this approach is found in the fact that John is using a figure of speech called litotes. Litotes is when we state a positive as a negative as a way of emphasizing the positive.

We use this figure of speech all the time.

Let us say that your favorite football team is having a fantastic year and have gone undefeated. This coming Sunday, they are facing a team that so far has not won a single game. If I ask you whether you think your team will win, you could simply say “Yes, they are certainly going to win,” but you might also say, “If they play like they’ve been playing, they will definitely not lose.”

In that second statement, do you see how a positive is stated in a negative way? When you state that they will definitely not lose, you are using a negative to emphasize the almost certain fact that they will indeed win.

But notice something interesting about litotes. Although you use a negative to emphasize the positive, this does not mean that the opposite is true.

Take your undefeated football team again. Let us say that instead of playing as they have been playing all year, they instead play the worst game of the season. The quarterback throws interceptions. There are numerous fumbles and penalties. The defense never really gets going. They play an absolutely terrible game.

But even so, does this mean that they will automatically lose the game? Not necessarily. Even though they play poorly, they might still win the game. It might not be the absolute blowout that it could have been, but they might still squeak through with a victory.

Maybe another example of litotes will help.

What you think if you overheard a man say, “If my wife makes me an apple pie, I will not stop loving her”?

Would you assume from that statement that if this man’s wife did not make me an apple pie that he would stop loving her? No, probably not.

Instead, you would understand that he does love her, and that if she makes him an apple pie, he would love the pie, and would show great appreciation to his wife.

This is also how to understand Revelation 3:5.

One of the blessings pronounced on overcomers is that they will not be blotted out of the Book of Life. When we understand this as litotes, we understand that Jesus is saying that those who overcome will not only keep their name in the Book of Life because they are believers, but will receive greater blessings from God and greater experience of life with God. They will receive white robes and will receive special recognition before God and the host of angels.

Notice, of course, that just as with the football and apple pie examples, the opposite of the Revelation 3:5 litotes is not true.

Many pastors and teachers say that if someone does not overcome, then their name will be blotted out of the Book of Life. But Revelation 3:5 doesn’t say that at all. Revelation 3:5 does not say that those who fail to overcome will be blotted out of the Book of Life.

Even if your football team does not play up to their ability, this does not necessarily mean they will lose the game this weekend.

Even if a man’s wife does not make apple pie, this does not mean that he will stop loving her.

Even if a Christian fails to overcome, this does not mean that their name will get blotted out of the Book of Life.

So no Christian can Ever be Blotted out of the Book of Life

The Book of Life can be understood simply as the roster of the living. It is a list, or register, of all living people. When a person dies, their name is removed from this list.

However, when a person receives everlasting life from Jesus, their name remains in the Book of Life, for even though they die, they will live again, and will live forever.

At the end of time, when the only people who remain are those who have eternal life in Jesus, the Book of Life becomes known as the Lamb’s Book of Life, for the only names that will remain in the book are those written in the permanent ink of the blood of the Lamb.

Do you have further questions or comments about the book of Life? Leave them in the comment section below, or (better yet) join my online discipleship group and take the lesson on this important word from the Bible. See you there!

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

How does the blood of Jesus cleanse us from our sin? (1 John 1:7-10)

By Jeremy Myers

19 Comments

One of the members of my online discipleship group recently asked me about 1 John 1:7-10 and how the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin. Here is what he wrote:

I really appreciate your ministry and have been blessed by your books. I have a question for you regarding 1 John 1:7, where it says the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin. I just listened to your podcast about the two different words for forgiveness, but I’m wondering how this verse plays into it all, since it uses the word “cleanses” – what do I need to know to understand this well? -Eli

Thanks for the question, Eli!

1 John 1:7-10 does get discussed in various ways through my online course “The Gospel Dictionary,” but let me try to summarize here some of what I teach in that course. For a fuller understanding, you would need to take the lessons on Blood, Confess, Fellowship, Forgiveness, and Sin. Of course, not all of those lessons are available yet, but they will be soon… But while you wait, you can also read about forgiveness and sin in my book, (#AmazonAdLink) Nothing but the Blood of Jesus, which discusses these terms.

So here is my basic answer for how to understand 1 John 1:7-10.

Cleansing from Sin (1 John 1:7, 9)

Let us begin by quoting the pertinent verses:

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. … If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7, 9).

There are five key terms which help us understand 1 John 1:7-10. We must understand what is meant by the words “sin, blood of Jesus, confess, forgive, and cleanse.” Let us briefly consider all five.

Sin in 1 John 1:7-10

The term “sin” in 1 John does not simply refer to breaking God’s law or doing bad things. Most Christians understand the word “sin” this way, but this is not primarily the way the Bible defines sin.

In Scripture, as in 1 John, sin is primarily the activity and actions that lead to and involve accusing and scapegoating other people. Yes, John says that “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4) but the laws were only given to keep us from accusing, condemning, scapegoating, and killing others in God’s name.

So lying and stealing are sinful, but only because they are part of the actions and behaviors that lead us to accuse, condemn, and scapegoat others. One premier place we see this in 1 John is when John gives the example of Cain murdering his brother Abel (Gen 4). This murder is the first sin in the Bible, and sets the stage for all sinful behavior that follows. (For a longer explanation, listen to my podcast episodes on Genesis 4.)

So sin is the ancient and universal human practice of wrongly accusing, condemning, scapegoating, and killing others in God’s name. This helps us understand what is meant by the term “the blood of Jesus.”

Blood of Jesus in 1 John 1:7-10

Few people actually believe that they engage in the practice of wrongly accusing, condemning, or scapegoating others. We believe that our judgments of others are righteous, valid, and correct. We believe that the people we accuse and condemn truly are guilty of the things we accuse them of.

And while it is true that they might be guilty of some of the things we accuse them of, the human tendency is to amplify the sinful behavior of others so that we can turn them into monsters, and dehumanize them, so that we can condemn them, or send them into exile, or even kill them in the name of God.

But few humans recognize that we do such a thing. We don’t admit that our judgments are unjust. We think we rightly accuse and condemn others.

So Jesus came along to reveal the truth to us. And though He was innocent of all wrongdoing, we accused, condemned, and killed Him … and we did this all the name of God. But since He was completely innocent, His unjust crucifixion revealed that we humans have a problem with unjustly accusing and condemning people.

The blood of Jesus reveals this truth to us. And nothing but the blood of Jesus could reveal this truth to us. Only someone who was completely innocent could show us that we humans have a problem with unjustly condemning and accusing other people.

But the sad reality is that even though Jesus revealed this truth to us, few of us recognize our involvement in such behaviors. But we must recognize it, and we must agree that we are indeed guilty of these sorts of accusatory, condemning, scapegoating practices.

Confession in 1 John 1:7-10

The word “confess” means to agree. When Jesus revealed the truth to us by His blood, we are faced with a choice.

We can either agree with what Jesus has revealed, or we can disagree. We can either confess or we can deny that we do indeed engage in falsely accusing and condemning others.

Of course, if we deny that we are involved in such practices, then we’re simply deceiving ourselves and have not yet recognized the truth.

Forgiveness in 1 John 1:7-10

But if we do agree and confess that we have been involved in falsely condemning, accusing, and scapegoating other people, it is then and only then that we can begin to break free from such practices and start loving other people as God wants and desires.

There are two words for forgiveness in the Bible. One is freely extended by God to all people throughout time for all their sins, past, present, and future. The second is only experienced when we humans take certain actions to change our thought patterns or behavior.

It is this second type of forgiveness that is mentioned in 1 John 1:9. So while God has always and freely forgiven us for all our sins, we will not experience this forgiveness in our own lives unless we take some actions to see the truth about ourselves, and take steps to change our behavior.

But this change begins with agreeing or confessing that we practice sin.

Cleansing in 1 John 1:7-10

Only when we agree and confess that we do indeed engage in falsely accusing, condemning, and scapegoating other people will we begin to be cleansed from our practice of this sin in our lives.

The cleansing of our sin is not a spiritual cleansing, but is a cleansing and changing of our actual behaviors going forward. As we are cleansed in this way, we will grow in fellowship with God and with one another.

An Amplified Summary of 1 John 1:7-10

With these five terms in mind, we can now easily understand what John is saying in 1 John 1:7-10. Here is an amplified paraphrase:

1 John 1:7. God walks in the light and we can walk in the light with Him if we agree with the light of truth He has revealed. When we live in light of this, we will live in peace with God and with each other and will no longer engage in the sinful practices of accusing, condemning, scapegoating others, which was revealed to us through the blood of Jesus. When we turn from such practices, we will be cleansed from living in such violent ways.

1 John 1:8. Of course, not everybody wants to admit that they engage in such practices. We humans tend to think that our judgments of others are just, and that our accusations of them have the backing and support of God. But if we believe this way, then we are simply deceiving ourselves, and we have not yet understood the truth.

1 John 1:9. However, if we agree that we do indeed engage in the sinful practices revealed through the bloody death of Jesus on the cross, then God is faithful and just and will help us gain deliverance and freedom from our bondage and enslavement to these practices, and He will help us stop engaging in them any longer. (God has freely forgiven us of all these sins, but if we want to practically be cleansed from them, we need to admit that we engage in them, and then follow the example and teachings of Jesus in how to live with love and free forgiveness instead.)

1 John 1:10. So once again … if you deny that you engage in this basic human practice of accusing, condemning, and scapegoating others … if you think that the people you call “monsters” and “heretics” truly are guilty of everything you accuse them of … if you think that some people truly deserve to burn in hell for all eternity … if you think that war is righteous and good and we need to bomb some groups of evil people off the face of the planet … then you are calling God a liar, and you have not understood the first thing about God and what He taught through Jesus (cf. 1 John 4:7-11).

So what is John teaching in 1 John 1:7-10?

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin by exposing sin for what it is and then calling us to no longer live in the way of sacred violence. His blood cleanses us through calling us to practice non-violence.

The blood of Jesus is not a spiritual antidote to sin which somehow removes the polluting presence of sin from our lives.

No, the blood of Jesus exposes our sacred violence to us so that we can see in our own lives how we make scapegoat victims out of others, and then calls us to no longer live in this way. Instead, we are to walk in the light of Jesus and have fellowship with Him, with God, and with one another (1 John 1:3).

Of course, as John goes on to explain, if we deny what Jesus reveals to us through His blood, and say that we are not guilty of sacred violence toward others, then we simply have not yet seen the truth about the blood of Jesus and have not owned up to our own duplicity and participation in human scapegoating and violence.

Only once we admit it and own up to our role in making victims of others can we then be cleansed from it and work in fellowship with God and others (1 John 1:8-10).

But what about our PAST sins?

While this understanding helps cleanse our life from present and future sins, how does the blood of Jesus cleanse us from past sins?

In other words, while the understanding proposed here helps us turn from our violent, sinful ways in the future, what does 1 John 1:7-10 have to say about our past sins?

The answer is that the text doesn’t say anything about our past sins. It is only concerned with our present and future behavior.

John is primarily interested in make sure that his readers recognize how they have been involved in the violent, bloody, accusatory, scapegoating practices that run this world, and turn from such behaviors to walk in the light of God’s love.[1]

Nevertheless, other passages in Scripture tell us how we are cleansed and forgiven by God from our past sins. Passages such as Romans 3:25-26, 2 Corinthians 5:19, and Colossians 2:13 reveal that God simply overlooks our sin, does not count our sin against us, and freely forgives all people of all their sin.

The instruction in 1 John 1:9 to confess our sins so that we might be forgiven is referring to a conditional type of forgiveness which is not the same thing as God’s free and unconditional forgiveness. Here in 1 John 1:7-10, the issue is not so much about being cleansed from our past sins, but about our present and future behavior as we seek to live in fellowship with God and one another.

So how are you going to live?

First of all, do you see what is revealed through the violent and bloody death of Jesus? Do you see how He revealed the truth that we humans accuse, condemn, scapegoat, and even kill other people in God’s name … but that none of this has anything to do with God, but is in fact the exact opposite of what God wants and desires?

Second, you you agree that you have engaged … and might still be engaging … in some of these practices today? Maybe you are engaging in this practice toward Muslims … or gays … or Democrats … or Republicans … or President Trump … or the Media … or your boss … or your neighbor … or … whomever.

Third, if you recognize you have engaged in some of these practices, then what are you to do about it? Well, that’s what the rest of 1 John is all about, which you can read on your own. But the bottom line is that you need to unconditionally love and freely forgive, just as God loves and forgives us.

But all of that will have to be saved for another study.

If you have questions or comments, leave them in the comment section below … and also, consider joining us in the online discipleship group where we regularly discuss these sorts of topics and passages. If you are already in the group, make sure you have signed up to take “The Gospel Dictionary” course, which is free for you to take inside the group.

Notes:

[1] The Greek word for “cleansing” in 1 John 1:7 is present indicative, and in 1 John 1:9 is aorist subjunctive. Though aorists can indicate past time, the subjunctive mood indicates probability or objective possibility. Therefore, due to the inherent contingency of the subjunctive mood, the implied timing is usually future, so that aorist subjunctive tends to have a future timing, and can even be used as a substitute with the future indicative. See https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-detail-frame.htm

Is the Shedding of Blood Required for the Forgiveness of Sins? (Hebrews 9:22)

By Jeremy Myers

195 Comments

Hebrews 9:22 provides the main reason Christians believe that if Jesus had not shed His blood for us, we could never have been forgiven for our sins. Hebrews 9:22 refers to Leviticus 17:11 as saying this:

… without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins.

So there we go! The blood of Jesus is important – necessary even – for the forgiveness of sins.

End of story. The question is answered. The post stops here.

Except … hmm … something doesn’t seem quite right with that quick and tidy answer …

For example, I forgive people all the time without requiring that they shed blood for me. And I’m really glad that people forgive me all the time without asking that I open a vein or kill my cat for them.

So if I can offer forgiveness without the shedding of blood, and so can other people, what is going on with God? Doesn’t He freely forgive (Col 3:13)? Since when are there conditions for unconditional love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness? Is God’s forgiveness of a lesser sort than ours? Or maybe His forgiveness is of a more powerful type of forgiveness that requires blood?

And if God’s forgiveness is greater and so requires blood, then my next question is, “Why blood?” I mean, if God is the one making the rules, and sin is a serious affront to His holiness, then why did He decide that blood would appease Him? Why not require … I don’t know … spit? Or hair? Yes, I like the hair idea.

Why didn’t God simply say “Without the cutting of hair, there can be no forgiveness of sins”? Of course, that might not be fair to bald people, but I digress …

What’s the deal with blood?

Yes, yes, I know. I’ve been to “the seminary.” They tell us:

It’s because the life is the blood.

That’s from Leviticus 17:11. In the Bible. And since we have a verse, the discussion is over.

But wait! That’s no answer. The question still stands. So okay, God wants blood, and it has something to do with the life of a person being in the blood. But God makes the rules, so why did He decide He wanted blood? Why does God want to kill people (or animals in the place of people) because people sin?

In fact, come to think of it, the issue isn’t with blood any more. The issue now is with God. Why does God want blood?

I could follow this line of reasoning further, but I think you get the point. In fact, some of that conversation might sound very similar to conversations you have had with atheists. At least, much of what I wrote above echoes conversations I have had with atheists. Atheists are atheists for a variety of reasons, but some of them have real issues with a god who demands blood so that He can forgive sins.

And you know what I tell them? I say this:

God Doesn’t Want Blood

God doesn’t want blood. God wants life! It is WE who think that God wants blood (when He doesn’t).

The idea of God demanding blood is borrowed from pagan religions. Jesus went to the cross, not to reinforce and support this idea, but to expose and redeem it. That’s a huge idea which would take us down a whole new rabbit trail.

But if God doesn’t demand blood, then how does God forgive? Doesn’t Hebrews 9:22 teach that God needs blood in order to forgive us? No, it does not. Let us read carefully what Hebrews 9:22 says in context.

1. Hebrews 9:22 contrasts Jesus with Moses

The first thing to notice about the context of Hebrews 9:22 is that the author is clearly contrasting the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law with what Jesus accomplished in His death on the cross.

One way to note this is by looking back to Hebrews 9:15, which is the opening statement in the larger context of this discussion about sacrifice and blood. In Hebrews 9:15, the author writes about the “redemption of the transgressions.” The word used there is not the normal word for “sin” in the NT, but is parabaino (STR: 3847), and means to overstep or go beyond the boundaries.

The TDNT says that parabaino is closely connected with sin in the New Testament, but primarily in the sense of using human tradition to disobey the law of God while claiming to be the fulfillment of the law.

In other words, parabaino takes place when someone tries to explain and apply the law of God, but actually ends up doing the exact opposite of what the law says.

The author of Hebrews indicates that Jesus came to redeem sin, that is, to redeem the parabaino type of sin. More specifically still, Jesus came to redeem the sin of misusing the law. It is this issue that concerns the author of Hebrews.

2. Hebrews 9:22 says there is purification and forgiveness Without Blood

Second, it is important to note that even in Hebrews 9:22, the author pretty adamantly states that there is purification and forgiveness apart from the shedding of blood. The author says, “almost all things are purified with blood …”

If we went back to read the Levitical law, we would see that purification and forgiveness was extended under a variety of circumstances, including the washing with water (Lev 15:16-17; 17:15), anointing with oil (Lev 14:29), burning flour (Lev 5:11-13), giving money (Exod 30:11-16), or releasing an animal into the wild (Lev 16:10).

And in fact, when it comes to intentional sins, there was no offering of any kind which was prescribed by the law. All the sacrifices and offerings of the law are for unintentional sins only. This means that when an Israelite sinned intentionally (as they most certainly did, just as we do), the only way they could receive forgiveness from God was to look to Him for it in faith (just like us)!

The author of Hebrews knows all this, which is why he says that almost all things are purified by blood.

3. Hebrews 9:22 is not about Sin; but about the Covenant

Of course, even this requires further modification, for it is not true that almost all things required blood for purification. A quick reading of the Law reveals that most things did not require blood.

So what does the author of Hebrews mean?

The context indicates that the author specifically has in mind the tabernacle and the religious items within the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:21). The author is talking about the initial dedication ceremony of the first tabernacle built by Moses. This purification and dedication ceremony initiated the Mosaic Covenant (Hebrews 9:18-19).

So the author of Hebrews is not giving a general principle in Hebrews 9:22 for how we receive forgiveness of sins, but is instead referring to how the covenant of Moses was initiated by blood.

4. Hebrews 9:22 says that Shedding of Blood came from the Law

Fourth, notice that the author of Hebrews specifically states where the instruction about offerings of blood came from. He does not say, “and God commanded that all things be purified with blood, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

No, Hebrews 9:22 specifically states that this these things are “according to the law.” Of course, those of us who hold to the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture don’t see much difference between something the law stated and something God stated, and yet we must be careful because numerous Old Testament prophets emphatically declared that God is not the one who gave the law or commanded that the people offer sacrifices, and He was not pleased with these sorts of religious rituals, nor did He ever want them (cf. Jer 7:21-23; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8).

This is the same point the author of Hebrews makes in 10:5-6.

Reconciling the words of these inspired prophets with the modern understanding of inspiration and inerrancy is a difficult task indeed. I have a way that works for me, but again, to travel down that rabbit trail would take us too far afield.

But however we understand that thorny issue, we can all agree that in Hebrews 9:22, the author is simply contrasting how the law inaugurated the Mosaic Covenant with how Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant.

5. The Shedding of Blood Never Brought Forgiveness!

In light of this contrast, notice fifthly, that the author of Hebrews deftly shows how the Mosaic covenant, with all its bloody sacrifices, was never able to accomplish what it promised.

The author of Hebrews points out that it is “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Though it was the law that promised the forgiveness of sins through blood sacrifices, the simple fact that the law required perpetual sacrifices revealed that the law could not deliver what it promised.

Nobody was ever actually forgiven through the blood of a sacrifice! So according to the author of Hebrews, though the law required blood for forgiveness, blood didn’t provide any forgiveness! The law didn’t work!

6. Hebrews 9:22 is not about Forgiveness OF SINS

This leads to a sixth point about Hebrews 9:22 which should not be missed.

I intentionally misquoted Hebrews 9:22 above. I quoted it as saying that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

But Hebrews 9:22 does not include those final two words. Hebrews 9:22 says nothing about sin. Yes, sin is mentioned in Hebrews 9:26-28, but only in reference to the sacrifice of Jesus. The first time the author references sin in connection to the sacrificial blood of the Mosaic covenant is in Hebrews 10:4, where, as we have just seen, the only connection between sin and blood is that sin cannot be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats.

So what is the blood for in Hebrews 9:22? Again, as we saw above, it was for the purification of the tabernacle and its vessels when Moses inaugurated the first covenant. Modern western Christians are so infatuated with sin, that we see sin everywhere and believe that our biggest problem in the world is sin and that God is sitting in heaven trying to figure out how to stop us all from sinning.

I believe that nothing could be further from the truth.

God is not nearly as concerned with sin as we are.

Before the majesty of God’s holiness and love, all the sin of the world is little more than an annoying flea jumping around on the ground by his foot. Sin is not that big of a deal for God. The only reason He is concerned at all about sin is because sin hurts and damages us, and since He loves us beyond all imagination, He wants to do something about that annoying flea, because it has bitten us and injected us with all sorts of harmful toxins.

Also, God must do something about sin because sin is a big deal for Satan, and Satan uses sin to lay claim to our lives, which is something God does not want. But this too is another rabbit trail which we must avoid for now. The bottom line is that sin is not a big deal for God, and sin is not the issue in Hebrews 9:22.

7. Hebrew 9:22 isn’t even about “Forgiveness”

But what about the word “forgiveness” in Hebrews 9:22? Doesn’t that indicate that sin is the issue? No, it does not. This is the seventh point about this important text.

The word which the author uses here is the Greek word aphesis. This word does not mean “forgiveness” in the way that modern, English-speaking people think about forgiveness. Instead, aphesis is something closer to “deliverance” or “release.”

It has in mind the picture of someone who is enslaved and in chains, and someone else come along with the key to unlock them and set them free. I have written previously about aphesis.

In Scripture, we are freely forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future, completely and only by the grace of God. We are, however, called upon to obey God so that we might enjoy the freedom from sin that He wants for us. Sin injects us with toxins that further enslave us, which God wants to liberate us from.

This sort of release often requires something on the part of the one who is being released, lest they fall right back into slavery after having been released! In this way, aphesis is a symbiotic forgiveness. It not only requires that the liberator unlock the chains; it also requires that the liberated run away from what had chained them.

8. The “Release” of Hebrews 9:22 is a Release of the Covenant

In Hebrews 9, it is not people who are being released, but the covenant itself! This eighth point is that the blood of Hebrews 9:22 has absolutely nothing to do with the removal of sin.

Instead, the blood was for the enactment of the Mosaic Covenant. The author of Hebrews could not be more clear. He says that a testament, or will, is not put into effect until the one who wrote it dies (Hebrews 9:16-17). My wife and I have Wills, and as is the case with all Wills, they do not go into effect until we die. A “Last Will and Testament” has no power while we live.

So after Moses wrote the Covenant, or the testament, he enacted a death over it to make it effective and active upon the people (Hebrews 9:19-21).

Whose “Last Will and Testament” was this? It was God’s! It was God’s covenant to the people.

But since God Himself could not come down to die and so enact the covenant, Moses symbolized the death of God with “the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop” (Hebrews 9:19).

The “release” in Hebrews 9:22 then, is the release of the covenant.

Prior to the shedding of the blood of the bulls and goats, the covenant was not active. It was under lock and key. A death was needed to free it, liberate it, or enact it.

And since God was the “testator” (Hebrews 9:16), but God could not die, Moses killed calves and goats to symbolize the death of God, and in so doing, enacted the covenant of God with His people, Israel.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with sin.

Nor does Hebrews 9:22 have anything with the conditions of forgiveness, for as we have seen above, the covenant offered numerous ways for people to receive purification from sin, and when it came to forgiveness for intentional sins, the Israelites believed on the grace of God for forgiveness just as we do.

9. The People were also Released from Slavery

But the “remission” or “release” of Hebrews 9:22 is not just of the covenant. The implementation of the first covenant with Moses took place after the Israelite people had been delivered and redeemed from captivity in Egypt.

From a purely legal standpoint, they were runaway slaves. And according to the laws of slavery, as long as a slave is still living and has not yet been set free, the slave is still a slave, even if they run away.

So the redemption enacted as part of the Mosaic covenant was the redemption of the slaves from Egypt. The death of the calves and goats symbolized the death of the Israelite people to their former life of slavery in Egypt.

Through the Mosaic covenant, the people of Israel died to their old identification as slaves to the household of Pharaoh (i.e., Egypt), and were raised again to a new identification as members of the household of God. This is why the water and the blood was sprinkled not just on the book of the covenant, but also on all the people (Hebrews 9:19).

They were dying to their past and were being born again into a new family. As members of this new family, they had new household rules to live by, which were enumerated in the Mosaic covenant.

10. Hebrews 9:22 in the context of Hebrews 9-10

All of this together helps us understand the discussion in Hebrews 10 that follows about how the New Covenant, which was enacted through the death of Jesus, is far superior in all ways to the Old Covenant which was enacted through the blood of animals.

This also helps explain why Hebrews 10 talks about sin so much. Though we have seen that Hebrews 9:22 is not talking about the forgiveness of sins, we often get confused about the rest of Hebrews 9 and on into Hebrews 10 because there are many references to the sacrifice or offerings of Jesus Christ for our sins.

The best way to understand this is to remember what we have learned from Hebrews 9:16-22 about why the blood of the calves and goats was sprinkled over tabernacle and its instruments, along with the book of the covenant and the people, on the day the Mosaic Covenant was instituted among them. The blood was to inaugurate the covenant and indicate to the people that they had been set free from slavery.

All of this is exactly the same with the death of Jesus.

Jesus did not die to rescue us from the wrath of God. Nor did Jesus die to secure for us the forgiveness of sins. God has always freely forgiven people of their sins.

No, the death of Jesus on the cross was to inaugurate the new covenant of God with the entire world, and to indicate to all people that we were no longer slaves to sin.

That second point is critical. Jesus did not die for God because of sin. Jesus died for sin.

God’s holiness did not demand that Jesus be put to death. No, it was the devil that demanded death and blood (cf. Hebrews 2:14-15). Sin was the certificate of ownership which the devil held over the heads of humanity.

By dying, Jesus cancelled this debt of sin so that the devil could no longer have any claim upon us. This happened because just as all sinned in Adam, and so became slaves to death and the devil, so all died and were raised to new life in Jesus, and so were liberated and redeemed from our slavery to death and the devil.

Just as the Israelites in the wilderness died to Pharaoh, and were raised to new life in the family of God, so also, all people in Jesus died to sin, death, and devil, and were raised to new life in the family of God. This is the basic meaning of the discussion in Hebrews 10 about the sacrifice of Jesus for sin.

But the discussion goes beyond this as well. The author of Hebrews intentionally subverts the sacrificial elements of the Mosaic covenant by transitioning away from images of blood and death, and writing instead about offerings and purification.

Let just a few of these be noted.

Following immediately after Hebrews 9:22, we read that Jesus also purified the heavenly sanctuary. And just as the first ceremony indicated the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant and the death of the people to their past enslavement to Egypt, so also, the actions of Jesus indicated the inauguration of the New Covenant and the death of the people to their enslavement to sin.

In Hebrews 10:1-4, the author emphasizes the complete failure of the Mosaic law to do anything about sin. In Hebrews 10:2, we are informed that if the law could have taken away sin, the people would have stopped making sacrifices, for they would have had no more consciousness of sins. Yet the sacrifices themselves are a reminder of sins, even though they do nothing about the sins.

Then in Hebrews 10:5-10, the author indicates his understanding that the sacrificial system was never intended to take away sins, and that God Himself never wanted such sacrifices or took any pleasure in them. Again, God is a God of life; not death. What God did want, however, was a life lived in obedience to the will of God, which is exactly the “offering” which Jesus brought. This understanding of “offering” and “sacrifice” as the life of Jesus rather than His death is critical for the rest of the chapter. While it is true that Jesus died a bloody and gruesome death on the cross, it is critical to recognize that the death of Jesus on the cross was for sin, while the life of Jesus was for God. God did not want nor desire the death of Jesus. God always and only wants life.

Building upon this truth, Hebrews 10:11-18 moves on to compare and contrast the covenant enacted by Moses and the covenant enacted by Jesus Christ. After explaining that the sacrifices and offerings of the priests could never do anything about sins, Hebrews 10:12-13 shows that Jesus not only dealt with sin once and for all through His death, but actually perfected forever those who are in Him. The author then makes the absolutely shocking statement that God (and Moses) knew from the very beginning that the Law of Moses was obsolete and useless for doing anything about sin.

The author of Hebrews points at what the Holy Spirit said through the prophet Jeremiah about the new covenant (Jer 31:33-34), and then ties this together with the word “remission” (aphesis) which was used in Hebrews 9:22. In so doing, the author indicates the truth that Moses knew from the very beginning that his law was temporary, obsolete, and ineffective for doing anything about sin.

In Exodus 20, after God had given the 10 Commandments, God wanted to speak to the people of Israel Himself. But they were too scared of God, and declared that they would rather have Moses to speak to God for them (Exod 20:19). What follows in Exodus 21 through most of the rest of the Pentateuch is called “the Mosaic Law” for good reason.

It was how Moses believed God wanted the people of Israel to live out the 10 commandments. But forty years later, Moses saw that what he had given to the people was a complete failure. He had been with them for forty years (Deut 29:5), and knew that the law would be completely ineffective in helping them follow God and live rightly (cf. Deut 31:16-21).

As a result, Moses knew that what he had given to the people would be replaced by what God had wanted all along. Before Moses died, he prophesied that his law would pass away and would be replaced with the law of God written upon men’s hearts (Deut 30:6-20). Long before Jeremiah ever prophesied that God would do away with the written law and write His law upon our hearts and minds, Moses had said the same thing (cf. Deut 30:6, 14). Paul understood Deuteronomy 30 in this way as well (cf. Rom 10:7-8). In fact, in a recent book on the Pentateuch,

John Sailhamer has argued that one of the central points of the Pentateuch is to show that the law was ineffective, obsolete, and not what God had wanted for His people at all. God wanted faith, humility, mercy, and righteousness, which are the things the law could not provide.

But Jesus provided what the law could not, which brings us back to Hebrews 10. Jesus lived the way God intended, and in so doing, accomplished several things.

First, Jesus crucified the law of sin and death (Hebrews 9:26-28).

Second, Jesus revealed what God had always wanted for His people (Hebrews 10:16-17).

Third, Jesus revealed how God’s people could live for love and life instead of sin and death (Hebrews 10:20-23).

In Jesus, we learn that God no longer wants death, and He never did. God always and only wants life.

Hopefully, all this provides a deeper understanding of what Hebrews 9:22 is actually teaching (and not teaching) about the shedding of blood and the forgiveness of sins.

God always forgives sins freely. He does not need or want blood.

Note: This article by Brad Jersak on Hebrews 9:22 is also helpful.

The cross of Jesus is CENTRAL to everything!

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What’s the deal with blood?

God Doesn’t Want Blood

1. Hebrews 9:22 contrasts Jesus with Moses

2. Hebrews 9:22 says there is purification and forgiveness Without Blood

3. Hebrews 9:22 is not about Sin; but about the Covenant

4. Hebrews 9:22 says that Shedding of Blood came from the Law

5. The Shedding of Blood Never Brought Forgiveness!

6. Hebrews 9:22 is not about Forgiveness OF SINS

7. Hebrew 9:22 isn’t even about “Forgiveness”

8. The “Release” of Hebrews 9:22 is a Release of the Covenant

9. The People were also Released from Slavery

10. Hebrews 9:22 in the context of Hebrews 9-10

The cross of Jesus is CENTRAL to everything!

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